Adult Film Industry Ditches California For New HQ In Las Vegas?

A new law in California has the adult film industry scratching its head wondering whether or not a shift to the east is on the horizon.

A law passed earlier this month making condom use mandatory, as well as other legislation that could severely affect the adult industry, has reportedly caused adult filmmakers to table most of their productions for the past year. Some could say that modern pornography was effectively born in California over fifty years ago, and most would have to agree that it has thrived in the Golden State ever since.

Now, however, with the new restrictions being placed on the makers of adult entertainment (and more restrictions waiting in the legislative wings in Sacramento), many producers are wondering whether or not a move a bit farther east isn’t in the cards.

Las Vegas, Nevada, hosts the yearly Adult Entertainment Trade Show, and with a nickname like “Sin City,” you’d think that Las Vegas would be a match made in — if not heaven — well, you get the idea. However, there are some in Las Vegas, as well as some in California, that don’t think moving the central headquarters for the adult film industry is a wise idea.

Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals, an independent sociologist and former visiting scholar at the University of Southern California who studies the adult entertainment industry, says that the biggest problem the industry would have in Nevada is that it’s not even legal to shoot adult films there.

“I don’t think the industry comprehends that it is not legal to produce porn in Las Vegas or Nevada at all. That’s another struggle that’s going to happen – and another legal battle they’re going to have to take care of. I do not think running to Las Vegas and setting up shop there is a long-term solution.”

However, this is Las Vegas we’re talking about, not Salt Lake City. Prostitution, too, is illegal in Las Vegas, and yet you can walk from one end of the Strip to the other and easily find a few thousand names and numbers for “escort” services. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like anyone would really raise an eyebrow if the adult film industry were to relocate their headquarters to Sin City.

The question of whether or not adult entertainment is illegal to film in Las Vegas, however, is a murky one. Though Dr. Tibbals stated that it’s illegal, Chris Giunchigliani, the Clark County Commissioner, where Las Vegas is located, disagrees.

“They’re legal. They’re adults. It’s consensual. As long as the women — and men — are being treated with respect, and they’re not violating zoning issues [or] filming in people’s homes, I think it’s fine for them to be here.”

Before anyone can think about moving the bulk of the adult film industry east, however, producers say that the prospect is easier said than done. The idea of moving all the talent to a new city and leaving their old homes behind and the idea of shifting studios full of equipment to new digs is expensive and daunting. And, of course, there’s always the prospect that Nevada lawmakers may at some point make the production of adult films as trouble-filled as California has, negating the benefits of the entire move.